Internal-combustion engine



Oct. 30, 1928.

F. H. ROYCE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed July 29, 1,925

Patented Oct 30, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

rnnnnnrcx HENRY ROYCE, orwns'r wrrrnnrno, nmn-onrcrrnsrnn, ENGLAND, As-

SIGNOB r0 ROLLS-ROYCE LIMITED, or DERBY, ENGLAND.

rN'rEnNAL-coMBUs'rIoN ENGINE.

Application filed July 29, 1925,8eria1 No. 46,836, and in Great BritainAugust 8, 1924.

driver (by means of mechanism whereby he' can vary the anchorage of oneend of, and so affect the tension in the spring) determining such speedor if desired rendering the mechanism for the time being inert.

In engines as heretofore made with throttle controls such as referred tothe governor device is introduced into hand operated mechanism the othermechanism being operated by a pedal lever.

For convenience in describing my invention the former mechanism ishereinafter referred to as the governor mechanism and the latter as thepedal mechanism.

In most such throttle controls heretofore constructed the mechanism hasbeen arranged so that thepedal mechanism (when operated) controls thegovernor mechanism that is to. say, forces the governor weights to closetowards their axis of rotation, out of the position they would otherwisehave assumed, and opens the valve in opposition to the governor, whichaction has certain disadvantages. It has also been found necessary insome of such mechanisms to adopt for the throttle a the most desirable,

Further in mechanism heretofore in use where a butterfly valve isadopted a heavy piston valve which is not.

proved mechanism of the type referred to. The avoidance of control ofthe governor by the pedalmechanism may be achieved by an arrangement inwhich a lever forming part of the pedal mechanism is in operativeconnect-ion with the valve to open it, and hold it open, against thereaction of a spring tending to close it, another spring, reacting 1between a moveable member and an anchor-,' age, tends through theinstrumentality of the said moving member to openthe valve over-'powering (when in efi'ective operation) the first mentioned spring, acentrifugal governor driven by the engine tends (with an urgencydependent on the speed of the. en-

gine) to oppose the secondly mentioned spring, and hence to allow thefirst mentioned spring to close the valve. To render the governermechanism adjustable the an chorage of the secondly mentioned spring isadjustable by the driver (within limits) togards, or away frgm the saidmoveable mem- The avoidance of the disturbance of the centrifugal deviceby the heavy load referred to may be remedied by affording to it greatermechanical advantage in the transmission as hereinafter explained.

' I An example of my invention is illustrated in the diagrammatlcdrawings accompanying this specification; Fig. 1 shows the generalarrangement of the mechanism and Figs. 2jand 3 a side view and end onview of the steering column and lever attached. a is' a butterfly valvein the throttle pipe (1 a is the pedal lever connected through rod alever a and rod (1 with the lever a", which is mounted on the spindle ofthe valve at, (His a spring attached at one end to lever a; and at theother anchored to the frame. I) is a rotating'shaft driven by theengine, carrying a centrifugal device which consists of four weights 6suspended between two parallel Xframes b (one'only seen) the members ofwhichare pivotally hinged and supported on projecting pivots (one onlyseen) 6 the sleeve 6 loosely mounted on the rod b and secured thereon bythe collar b, and connecting rods 6 each pivotally hinged to the sleevebjand to a member of the X frame. 0 is a lever fulcrumed on a rod orshaft 0 one arm having a cylindrical end 0 which engages in an eyeformed on rod b.- d is a rod pivotally hinged at one end to the lever aand at the other to spring d, which spring is anchored to the rod d 0 isa lever fulcrumed on a pivot 0 one arm of which is cam-shaped andengages one arm of lever a and the other arm of which is connected tothe lever c by the rod 6 which is pivotally hinged to them respectively.The shape and inclination of the arm of lever e which engages lever a,is designed so as to be at greater mechanical advantage when the valveis opened to a small extent. f is a rod rotating in a tube f mounted onthe steering column 7 capable of being rotated by the action.

open the valve.

driver (within limits) by lever f in either direction. f is a shortlever projected from the rod f which engages by a ball and socket jointf with the rod d so that on any rotation of the rod f the anchorage ofthe spring (Z will be shifted towards or away from the lever 0. By thisrod the driver can adjust the governor device to keep the engine at anygiven speed or to put the device out of Ihe spring (Z is such that itseffect on the lever 6 having regard to the intervening mechanicaladvantages is greater than that of the spring (a.

The operation of the mechanism when the driver has set the governormechanism for any speed is as follows :v-The governor spring will beunder tension tending (through the instrumentality'of the lever c), toopen the valve, overpowering the pedal mechanism spring which tends toclose it, and the centrifugal element will be countering and restrainingthe action of the spring d If owing to variation of the load the enginespeed should be reduced, the effect of the centrifugal element on thelever 0 will fall, and the spring (1 will contract and actuate lever 0to actuate lever e and in result If on the other hand the engine speedshould increase, the centrifugal element will exert greater force on thelever c to withdraw the action of lever e allowing the pedal mechanismspring to close the valve. Hence an approximately constant engine speedcan be maintained, and this speed is under the control of the driver byvarying the anchorage of the governor spring. urther the.pedal mechanismcan be operated to accelerate above the speed prescribed by the governormechanism and that without interference from, or interfering with thegov- What I claim is 1. Inla motor vehicle, an engine having a butterflythrottlevalve rotatable therein. a lever fixed centrally to said valveat the pivot axis thereof, a spring connected at one end to one arm ofsaid lever and at its other end to a fixed part of the vehicle tomaintain said valve normally closed, manually operated means connectedto said arm to rotate said valve against the tension of said spring. asecond lever pivoted about a fixed axis on said vehicle and having onearm shaped to provide a cam. face in contact with the other arm of thefirst named lever, a governor rotatable by said engine, and meansconnecting said governor to the other arm of the second lever to controlthe operation thereof, said cam face being shaped to provide the greatermechanical advantages at small openings of the valve.

2. In a motor vehicle an engine having a butterfly throttle valverotatable therein, a lever fixed at its center to said valve at the axisthereof, a spring connected at one end to one arm of said lever and atits other end to a fixed part of said vehicle to maintain the said valvenormally closed, manually controlled means connected to said arm torotate said valve against the tension of said spring, a cam memberrotatably mounted on said vehicle and having a cam face in operablecontact with the other arm of said lever, a second lever pivoted on saidvehicle, a centrifugal governor rotatable by said engine. means forpivotally connecting said governor to one arm of said second lever, alink pivotally connecting the other arm of said second lever operably tosaid cam memher, a tension spring having one end connected to the saidother arm of the second lever, and a manually adjustable anchorconnected to the other end of said tension spring. said cam face beingshaped to provide its greater mechanical. advantages at small'openingsof said valve.

3. In a'motor vehicle, an engine having a butterfly throttle valverotatable therein, a lever fixed at its center to said valve at the axisof rotation thereof, yielding means connected to said lever to hold saidvalve normally closed, manually operable-means connected to one arm ofsaid lever to rotate said valve in opposition to said yielding means, arotatable cam member having a cam face engaging the other arm of saidlever, a centrifugal governor rotatable by said engine, a linkageoperably connecting said governor to said-member to rotate the latter,yielding means connected to said linkage to resist rotation of saidmember by said governor, and manually controlled means to adjust theresisting tension of the last named yielding means.

4. In a motor vehicle, an engine having a butterfly throttle valverotatable therein, a lever fixed at its center to said valve at the axisof rotation thereof, a spring connected to said lever to hold the valvenormally closed, manually operable means connected to one arm of saidlever to control the opening of said valve against the tension of saidmanually adjustable yielding means conspring, a rotatable cam having acam face nected to said mechanism to control the rotaengaging the otherarm of said lever and tion of said member by said mechanism. 10

operating at greater mechanical advantage In itness whereof I havesigned this 6 at small openings of said valve, mechanism specification.

operably connected 'to said member and responsive to the speed of saidengine, and FREDERICK HENRY ROYCE.

